Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to sell part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for an F1 team – after the McLaren team was appraised at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, would sell a shareholding approximately 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and chief executive officer should the deal proceed.
Ownership Structure
The other shareholders in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos, who each also own a third of the enterprise.
A Mercedes spokesperson said: "We are providing no official statement on this. The management structure of Mercedes F1 stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of Mercedes-Benz in F1."
Financial Increase
The deal signifies a significant increase in value of the Mercedes team after Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in market values of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of the sport around the world.
This trend was evident with the box-office performance of the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, which was released in summer 2023 and earned over $630m (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Standings
Mercedes are second in the team standings, behind McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining this season.
Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has secured victory in 2 of the 21 grands prix so far and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team won a record eight consecutive team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.
